Edward Cronjager

Edward Cronjager (21 March 1904 – 15 June 1960) was an American cinematographer whose career spanned from the silent era through the 1950s. He came from a family of cinematographers, with his father, uncle, and brother all working in the film industry behind the camera. His work covered over 100 films and included projects on the small screen towards the end of his career. He filmed in black and white and color mediums, and his work received nominations for seven Academy Awards over three decades, although he never won the statue. He was the preferred director of photography of early film star Richard Dix and served on several Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) committees, as well as being selected by the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) to test new types of film stock. Cronjager pioneered several new techniques and types of cinematography, developing new camera angles in the 1920s, working on one of the earliest film noirs in the 1940s, and using CinemaScope in underwater photography in the 1950s. Early life Cronjager was born into a film family in New York City in 1904. His father and uncle, Henry and Jules (respectively), were famous cinematographers during the first two decades of the twentieth century. They worked with companies such as Edison, Biograph and Fox Film Corporation. Edward's brother, Henry Jr., was also a famous cinematographer, although his filmography is sometimes confused with that of his father due to the similarity of names and the fact that the active years of their careers overlapped. Edward's nephew (Henry Jr.'s son) was the Emmy Award-winning, William Cronjager. Before following in his father's footsteps, Cronjager would work as an assistant machinist.